Nintendo to Pay Third Party for Every 3DS Sold

Nintendo took some liberties with the design of the glasses-free 3D says judge

Nintendo has lost a case in the US courts that now means it must pay a company called Tomita Technologies for every 3DS sold.

The ruling, handed down by New York federal court judge Jed Rakoff, relates to Nintendo's use and infringement of Tomita's patent in the creation of its glasses-free 3D tech for the 3DS.

According to Law360 via Neogaf, Ninty will pay 1.82% of the rate on each sale.

Law360 states that, "The New York federal judge found that it was highly likely that prices of the 3DS handheld console would fall over time as the technology behind the device becomes cheaper. The decision follows Judge Rakoff’s August ruling that a jury awarding Tomita $30.2 million for the infringement had gone overboard and taken improper factors into account, cutting the award in half to $15.1 million.

“If, as Tomita suggests, the ongoing royalty rate were expressed as a flat dollar amount per unit sold, Tomita would capture an increasingly large proportion of each sale as the price falls, even as the technology's reliance on the infringed patent remains constant,” Judge Rakoff wrote. “This would result in an unearned windfall for Tomita, and, accordingly, the court prefers an ongoing royalty rate expressed as a percentage of wholesale price. The decision also ordered Nintendo to pay $241,231 in supplemental damages and prejudgment interest."